An otoscope is an instrument normally designed to allow a physician to peer inside an ear or into a nose through a lighted pathway. At times, particularly in infants, there are foreign bodies such as a bead within an ear or nose that necessitate removal. The objectives of this invention include low cost retrofitting of an otoscope to allow removal of foreign material from a nose and ear in a rapid patient comfortable manner.
The invention includes about one eighth inch diameter flexible plastic tubing with a first end connectable to a controllable vacuum source and a second end leading to and connectable to a sidearm on the speculum in one embodiment and connectable to a sidearm on speculum extensions or retrofits in other embodiments. An insufflation port on the head of the otoscope may be partially or totally closed using finger pressure to engage or disengage the vacuum source. Normally with no external vacuum source the physician uses a small air bulb and finger pressure to vibrate the tympanic membrane in the inner ear to determine if there is fluid behind the tympanic membrane. In the invention size of the insufflation port and control of the vacuum source are such that with the insufflation port totally open there is essentially no vacuum in the otoscope. The invention includes embodiments of the retrofitting units for attachment to the speculum receptacle or holder of the otoscope wherein the user may controllably pull vacuum through the retrofit units to hold a foreign body against the retrofit unit for removal and prevent foreign material from entering the otoscope head.
In all embodiments the speculum or the foreign body remover extensions are so formed with sidearm projections or ribs (not shown in the drawings) as to prevent in use sealing of the retrofitted speculum against the outer ear and to prevent subsequent tympanic membrane damage from the vacuum.
Minor changes to the speculum or the speculum retrofit units of the otoscope would be easily made but would be within the purview of the invention. We wish to be limited only to the spirit and purpose as outlined in these specifications and claims.